Henry’s (and Halia’s!) World

If you are like me, rib pain has been a pain, mine ranges from mild to extremely sore and tender ribs on both sides depending on what I may be doing that day. I’ve only noticed this in the third trimester, and it becomes increasingly painful after sitting for long periods of time. I assume the growing uterus plays a big role by shifting the abdomen up to create space, and boy can I feel it.

More often than not, my little one seems to be content using my ribs for kicking practice so I had my husband and proud father-to-be have a serious talk with our future Beckham, to cut out the kicking till its outside, but it has not seem to make much of a difference.

While I haven’t completely forgone my fashion sense, I am opting for comfort (especially when I am at home) by wearing lose fitting clothes and using tons of pillows to support myself. I can’t wait for baby to drop into my pelvic cavity and hopefully alleviate the pain.

What I have found to give me temporary relief is as simple exercise my chiropractor shared with me; stand facing a wall about a foot away, and with crossed arms in front of your face, slide your arms against the wall above your head stretching yourself up as far as possible. Holding this position for as long as is comfortable lifts the diaphragm and rib cage off the uterus and provides temporary relief, from baby’s hard little head wedged under the ribs.

“Life is tough enough without having someone kick
you from the inside.”
~ Rita Rudner

This time around, shopping for this surprise baby feels harder; 1) I’m a much more mature mom with three young one’s and 2) the amount of information out there to new and expectant parent’s is overwhelming.

Seven months into this pregnancy, getting ready has been on my mind a lot more with barely thirteen weeks to go to D-Day, and while some items like a high chair, and even a crib can wait till the baby is older, a car seat is the one item a hospital or birth center will not discharge you and your newborn without it.

So my method to finding affordable yet safe baby gear this time around starts with;
a. browsing the inventory available online, then sorting them by ratings (highest to lowest),
b. going to the store if possible to view the item as it pictures don’t always tell the story.
c. concentrating on those within my price range,
d. reading the available reviews written by other parent’s,
e. and finally visiting the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission to investigate any recalls or possible problems.

So today is co-sleepers and stroller systems day yeah!

With my previous pregnancies, I had always wondered how I would deal with the “side-effects” of pregnacy and this time around I am experiencing every single one of them!

From morning sickness to extreme fatigue, and now hip pain so bad, the pain actually keeps me up at night. Warm showers, and compresses have done nothing to help, taking any kind of pain medication is out of the question (have had the pain since week 14, and worry about the long term effects on baby), but disgustingly every single chiropractor I’ve contacted wants me to pay an additional $75 plus what they charge my insurance?!?!

So I sit here longingly eying my bed knowing that getting into it means instant pain, but on a happier note, I am officially 25 weeks today, 2 weeks till the start of the third trimester, and 15 weeks till this little bundle of joy is ready to emerge and revel his/her self!

One of the forums that I frequently read had a discussion about natural childbirth and the movie “The Business of Being Born” with Ricki Lake as a real interesting movie to watch about the business of child birth in the United States.

At the time of its release in 2007, there were plenty of free copies that could be viewed online (and another reason I dislike this small town in NC, the closest Blockbuster is a hour away grrrr), so two nights ago switching through channels imagine my delight when the guide featured “The Business of Being Born!”

I was just in time for the credits, but if you are DirecTV customer Show Time is showing this film over the month with the very next showing at 8pm tonight. So my early weekend treat is a bowl of plain popcorn and movie night tonight; about any pregnancy related show is on my favorite list right now, and its just for another three months and it will be out of my system.